Last Sacrafice: A Glimmer of hope!
by issiebee
Summary: Rose must escape and find the unknown Dragomir, Will Rose choose Adrian or will she choose her first love dimitri? Can Dimitri return that love? Can Rose escape the death sentence and if so, how does she get out? And Who. Killed. The. Queen? PLease R&R :
1. Hopeful

I looked lovingly at him, he smiled at me and I leaned towards him. Christian, Christian, Christian, that's all I could think about. Rose was locked up and I was stressed and all I knew was that I had to take my mind of everything and this was _definitely_ a way I could do that. I leaned in to kiss him and-

ugh! Not again… I quickly sat up in my bed and in doing so hit my head on the low ceiling of my stupid cell. Lissa and Christian's late night rendezvous were really not helping with the lack of sleep I was getting on this stupid bed. Rubbing my head I gave up on my attempt at sleep and sat up. There was not much to do in there so I pulled my legs towards me and wrapped my arms around them.

Times like this were the loneliest, the damphirs shifted to guard me at this time were always not in the mood to talk and I couldn't look into Lissa's head because she was always either getting hot and heavy with Christian or sleeping. So I just sat there thinking.

I must have dosed off because the next thing I knew, I was being woken by the smell of my breakfast. It was not exactly world class and there were a few things in there that I couldn't identify, but I was so hungry that I don't think that I would have refused it if they had given me a rubber tyre to eat!

"sleeping beauty awakes"  
I turned to see my father slash lawyer giving me a wide toothy grin from the other side of the bars on my cell. "Hello Zmey" I called back between hungry mouthful's of my meal. "What brings you here today?"

"I come because of, umm.. buisness" he replied loftily "I uh.. have something for you" he motioned for me to come to him and I did. When I got close to him he slipped something in my pocket for me to no doubt read later and I mouthed a thankyou to him. He winked and turned to go.

As I watched my father walk away I noticed that he had looked really tired. My imprisonment was definitely having an effect on everyone else too.

I let out a sigh as I thought that last part. I had changed my original list that let no one in and crossed of Lissa. She was my best friend and as much as I was ashamed of what I looked like, I had swallowed my pride and let her come down. Every day though she would plead everyone else's case, always the same people, Adrian, my Mum, Mia, Eddie… Dimitri.

Oh Dimitri, now it was my turn to swoon. He broke my heart and maybe on the surface I didn't want to see him, but I knew that deep down I would never stop loving him. But I also knew that Dimitri didn't love me anymore _love fades, Mine has._ Just thinking those words caused me to let out an involuntary strangled kind of sob. The guards turned in my direction but, satisfied I was okay, they turned back to whatever they were doing.

No longer hungry, I pushed the tray of food away from me and curled back up into a ball on the bed. Then I remembered Abe's note. Ever so carefully, so that the guards would not see, I got it out of my pocket and started to read

_**Rose,**_

_**the trial is fast approaching and that means that our time is running out.  
I have looked into every source I can possibly think of to help you in your search for the Dragomir girl or boy, unfortunately nothing has turned up so far. Although this is important, it is not the top priority **__**now**__**. My top priority is to get you out of there before they kill you for a crime you definitely did not commit!**_

The fact that my father, who I had only know for a few months, already believed in me so strongly, made me smile in spite of myself.

_**Nevertheless, I am working out a plan, I would appreciate it if you could put some thought in to it too. **__**Please**__** try and think of anyway we can get out of this, I have nearly run out of ideas! Destroy this letter after you read it, for your own safety as well as mine.**_

'_**Zmey'**_

That last part made me smile, I also realised though that it would give my father added protection because not everyone knew who Zmey was.

I couldn't exactly set the note on fire and if I ripped the note up into little pieces, what was I going to do with them. Then I had a brainwave.

"umm, Michael.." I think that was one of the guards names "I need to, uh.. go to the bathroom"  
"Okay, Lena, you go with her"

Typical, they didn't trust me enough to go to the bathroom on my own. I had to leave my cell to go though so I suppose it was reasonable, and seeing as I was actually up to no good, I probably shouldn't have been complaining.

We got to the bathroom and I assured her I would be quick, she in turn assured me that she would come in if I took too long and if she thought it was necessary. I simply nodded and went in. I locked the door and went to the toilet, I quickly fished the note out of the pocket of my filthy jeans ( I am _so _not going to get into how filthy I was at the moment)and proceeded to tear it in half and then into quarters and then eighths. I then dumped it all in the toilet along with some toilet paper to help flush it down and then just as I was about to press flush, I remembered what Abe's note had asked me to do.

I quickly assessed the room, finally thankful for all the lessons on this at Saint Vladimir's, to see if there way I could get out. There was a window, though it was about two and a half metres of the ground and to top it off had bars on it, not possible. I looked around the rest of the room and quickly concluded that it was useless.

Helplessly I leaned against the wall and sank down to the floor, i put my head in my hands and let out a low strangled sob, it wasn't loud enough for Lena to hear though so I was not in danger of drawing attention to myself.

I looked up at the window and saw the faint remainders of sunset, it was earlier in the vampiric day than I thought, I missed that so much – just being able to see the sky in general was good. I sighed as I thought, only a few layers of brick were separating me from freedom…

Wait a second, freedom. I quickly got up and flushed the toilet, saying goodbye to the note forever and as I was watching the note spin around and around in the toilet, I started to formulate a plan. I quickly checked out the room once more and paid special attention to behind the toilet, then I unlocked the door and stepped back into the dark hallway.

"lucky, I was about to come in" said Lena.

"sorry I uh had buisnes to take care of" I quickly replied. I decided to keep up my act of being miserable and in reality, I was. But if, at that moment, you were to look into my eyes, you would not see the despair in my eyes that was evident in the rest of my body. There was a slight sparkle to them which I saw as we passed a deeply tinted window in one of the main and most heavily guarded parts of the building, maybe it was a trick of the light, or maybe, just maybe, there was some hope.


	2. Escape

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire academy and nor do I wish any copyright infringement. BUT, everything I write comes from my own imagination and the same goes for any other fan fic's I write! Enjoy and please **__**R&R**__**!**__** :)**_

"I'm sorry, but would it trouble you to give me just a few minutes alone with Rose?" Abe was attempting to have a meeting with me to discuss my options and was seriously turning on the schmooze factor! "Please" he gave the head guardian on duty- Michelle – a flirty smile. She blushed. Not many women could resist Abe's charm when he turned it on, my mother had proved that.

"Sure" she smiled but then seemed to remember herself "but not for too long… I'll be back in about twenty minutes and remember that there are security cameras on you at all times"  
"sure thing" he grinned at her from ear to ear. She turned and walked off and Abe stopped the façade. Maybe he was a better actor than even I knew!  
"Okay, have you figured anything out because, seriously Rose I'm just about at the end of my tether… are you sure that nobody saw you and… Adrian that night" He still wasn't too happy about the fact that Adrian and I had spent a night together, even though we hadn't _really_ done anything. Abe didn't want to hear it though.  
"Yeah I'm sure… dad" It still felt so weird to call him that, but he insisted. "Besides I think I may have come up with a plan. It is going to take a lot of precision and it will probably rely on luck… A lot, so, are you up for it?"

"Do you even have to ask?" he grinned. I leaned into his ear and proceeded to tell him my plan…

1 Week Later.

I woke early, the stress of what I was about to do was getting to me; luckily everyone thought that it was the fast approaching trial I was stressed about. Little did they know that I wouldn't be here for the trial, that is, if everything goes to plan.

It was the middle of the night for the Vampire world but outside it was bright as day, or it would have been. I wouldn't know there was no window near me. It was too early yet though, way too many people were on guard, so I just had to wait patiently and bide my time.

They brought me food because I was awake and I was well aware that it could be the last meal I eat for a while or if things go terribly, the last meal I eat… ever. That thought worried me so I preoccupied myself by thinking the plan over and over, willing myself to believe that things would go smoothly. But I wasn't as naïve as I once was, I knew that the possibility of everything going to plan was not a large one and I decided not to dwell on that.

I checked the watch that Abe had supplied me with and sighed. Showtime! I was full of adrenaline as I got off my bed and said, as calmly and sweetly as I could. "Michael, could I _please_ go to the bathroom?" I flashed him a dazzling smile (hey, like father like daughter.)  
"sure… I guess that's fine, I'll get Lena to go with you like last time. But you're not going again until tonight!"

"That's fine!" No, I definitely wouldn't be going again today. I chuckled to myself and Lena turned her head towards me to see what the joke was, but I pretended not to notice her.

We got to the toilet that I had gone to before and out of the corner of my eye I could see someone hiding in the shadows, I thought it would be Abe, but they were too tall, and wore a long coat, not Abe's style, I shrugged it off, it was probably one of his workers, hopefully a reliable one because they were crucial to this part of the plan.

I got into the bathroom and locked the door, I one again headed straight to the toilet and just as I did I heard a muffled scream and then a thump, Abe's worker had done their job, Lena was now unconscious so she wouldn't hear the noise I was about to make. I got to the toilet and started belting it for all I was worth. I only had a precious few minutes before someone would either notice I had been gone for a while, that Lena was unconscious or that there was a LOT of noise coming from the bathroom.

The toilet moved a fraction and I increased my efforts ten-fold. I finally managed to hear a crack that was music to my ears and kept going. I knew though that the toilet wasn't going to move in time so I went over to the sink and snapped off the spout, I then quickly started using it against the toilet as well. I started to then put my whole body into it, running from one side of the room to the other. I thanked my guardian training for helping me to recover from any kind of blow quickly.

The stainless steel spout coupled with my kicking finally did it and the toilet came completely of the wall. Through all of the pipes and wires, I could see a faint stream of sunlight and I kept going at the bricks.

I made a hole just big enough to put my hands through and started clawing away at the bricks like a madwomen. Just as I started making progress, I heard the familiar sound of Michael's voice saying "What the hell!"

I finally managed to make the whole big enough to fit through and began to pull myself through. I heard the door get shoved and a grunting sound. Those locks wouldn't hold forever. I climbed out and ran into a sprint over past the court cemetery and the cottages that Mia lived in, over to a secluded corner where Abe had made a hole in the large gate that surrounded the whole court. Once again, I found myself being thankful for Saint Vladimir's and for Dimitri constantly pushing me to go running. I sprinted through and ran until I couldn't run anymore, I kept going and going and going until my sides hurt and I thought I would vomit or pass out if I went any further. By this stage I was sure that they had discovered I was missing but were still puzzled as to how I left the grounds. I was confident that it would take them a while to figure it out, that gave me some time to rest, though I was still to jumpy and my rest was short-lived,

I started jogging again and finally broke free of the forest and bush and found myself standing on the side of a highway in Pennsylvania, with no money, dirty clothes and probably looking like a homicidal maniac – twigs, leaves, dirt and fragments of brick stuck in my hair. I was wearing the same dirty jeans and T-shirt I had worn for three weeks in the prison cell – so I did what I had to and stuck my thumb up to try and hitch a ride.

I continued walking up the highway with my thumb up for about an hour or so, but I would promptly get on my belly in the grass whenever I saw a black four-wheel drive, the normal kind of car the court has. Eventually an old couple stopped and helped me – it reminded me eerily of when I had run away from Dimitri in Russia and the old couple had helped me. Their names were Thomas and Eliza Evans, I asked if they could take me to Seattle and they said yes because they were going through there. After that I just settled into the back seat to wait out the ride…

I got to Seattle and I thanked the Evans'. I felt bad about it, but I asked them for some money. They gave me $100, I thanked them again for their generosity and when I asked them why they were being so nice, they told me that I reminded them of their daughter. It was a compliment, but I was never good with accepting them so I just blushed and said that they should be on their way.

I was staying at a cheap, dirty, $20 a night hotel for the first two days, but then Abe some how managed to get some money to me and I was fine. The first thing I did was get a makeover to disguise myself better. I wanted to dye my hair red like my mum but that would probably get me noticed easier, so I settled for a very dark black. I then went and got a spray tan and a whole new wardrobe.

After that, I spent most of my days much like I did in Russia although this time I was wondering aimlessly, not searching for strigoi or Dimitri. I didn't talk to many people other than cashiers and store clerks; but I suppose that doesn't really count as a conversation.

I was there for about a week and a half when I met Laura. I was at a 7/11 getting some toiletries and snacks and she was behind me in line. I had realized that I'd forgotten something and had to run back and get it. When I got back to the checkout with my half a dozen eggs, she had become quite impatient.

"Come on. What do I have to do to buy a carton of milk! Seriously, were you waiting for the chickens to lay the eggs or something" she was nice looking – long curly black hair, quite short and had a tall slim build - and obviously, from the way she dressed, came from a very rich family. My only response to her impatience was,

"Shut up and wait your turn. Some people have bigger problems than whether they can get the milk home to mummy in time to have their earl grey! Seriously… I was gone for like, a minute!" She was stunned into silence, as was, um… everyone else in the store. The old Rose Hathaway was resurfacing.

I paid and got out of there. Out of the corner of my eye It looked like the same girl from 7/11 was talking to some guy in a coat I thought I heard someone whispering in an angry tone "WHAT?" but I probably imagined it. I started walking down the street back to my hotel when I heard the girl from the store yell "Wait!" from behind me. I turned around to see her running towards me, hands outstretched as if to say sorry.  
"What do you want now?" I said tiredly, "come to abuse me more?" The stress of running away and not being able to know what was happening to anyone but Lissa, it was killing me. And in typical Rose Hathaway style, I was taking it out on anyone and everyone.

"Look, I'm sorry I was rude. I didn't mean it and I was uh… Wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime?" she looked at me hopefully.  
"So now you think you can just waltz up and ask me this and it's all good! Seriously Get. A. Life." I pronounced each word slowly and clearly so she would get the picture

"okay, okay… I know I was rude, can we just forget it and be friends?" she was pleading now

"So now we're friends!" I was just about to tell her where she could stuff her 'friendship' when I realized that, I could work this to my advantage, she could help me get around the city unnoticed, she seemed to know her way around.

Tired, I sighed "yeah, okay… why not."

We exchanged phone numbers and decided to meet up soon, although I didn't really plan on following it up. As I watched her walk away I realized that she was moroi. I was so tired that I hadn't realized! Man, I really needed some sleep. I hoped that she was the kind of person who wasn't really up to date with what was happening in the vampire world because if she knew about everything with the Queen and I, she would probably turn me in, no matter how much she wanted to be friends. God I hoped she didn't turn me in! Then I remembered my new 'disguise' and calmed down. She probably hadn't recognized me – she didn't seem like the brightest spark. I doubted she would ever put two and two together and realize who I was. I had to give myself some credit, even with a disguise I still had people falling over themselves to be friends with me. I smiled to myself and continued walking home admiring my silky, dead straight black hair.

I stopped… was it just me or did I hear footsteps? I had an eerie sense that someone was watching me, I was just paranoid though… I think.

_**Aaah! So... what did you think? PLEASE, pretty please with sugar on top **__**REVIEW**__**! … I would really like some feedback :)**_

_**Xo Issie**_

_**PS: if anyone is a bit confused, yes I did change the chapter a bit because I've come up with a whole different plot for my story ! :)**_


	3. Interogation

I dragged myself through the door of my hotel room and flopped onto the bed, exhausted. Laura had dragged me around Seattle _all_ day! She wanted to show me all the tourist spots but I was subtly keeping an eye out for anyone that looked like Lissa, I know it was a hopeless stupid idea, but a part of me thought that if I just looked for a girl or boy either a little older or younger than me, I would find them. Laura had barely left me alone the past two weeks, she constantly wanted to do things together and was acting like we had been best friends our whole lives and, well, she was starting to grow on me. Although she did do dome pretty weird things, she was always asking me why I was in Seattle, which I guess is understandable, I just told her I was looking for someone but the weird part is that she kept pushing to know what the persons name was and where I thought they were. The truth was that I didn't know either but I wasn't about to admit that.

Today we went to an aquarium, I had really enjoyed it, but it had also made me sad because it brought back memories of when Lissa and I were out on our own.

I sighed as I thought of Liss. I missed her so much and I couldn't help thinking that I was repeating what I'd done in Russia again by leaving her and doing this on my own. It was a stupid thought because Lissa couldn't leave the royal court and come with me; I couldn't help feeling guilty though.

I opened up the bond and allowed myself to feel her emotions. I had earlier closed my mind off to Liss and just allowed enough so that I could feel that she was alright, but now I opened myself up completely.

It was around 9.30PM now so it was morning in the vampiric day and I allowed myself to get sucked into her head.

Lissa was in one of the large court meeting chambers. She was being questioned by some guardians and the 11 members of the council were there too. Other than that, no one else was present. They were questioning everyone because they wanted to know where I was and they had assumed that Lissa would know – her being my best friend and all - of course she didn't know, only Abe did. We purposely hadn't told anyone so that when they were questioned, they truly wouldn't know where I was.

Two guardians stepped up to the front where Lissa was sitting at a wooden desk; I recognized them as two of the guardians that had been guarding Dimitri when I was arrested. Everyone went quiet and then the meeting started.

"_Princess Vasilisa, do you feel bad about lying for someone who killed the leader of the vampire world? You know what kind of chaos could happen now!"_

"_Good morning to you too Guardian Roberts, Guardian Smith, always a pleasure. As for Rose, you don't know what you're talking about, I know for a fact that she didn't kill Titania Ivashkov; I can make an official statement if you would like? And as far as what I know about Rose's whereabouts… I honestly don't. Know. Anything! You and I both know that she didn't tell me, she's smarter than that, as she said in her hearing, she's very crafty, leaving her stake in the body, not really Rose's style.  
Both of you are guardians and you have to admit that it was very sloppily done, Rose would never do it like this, yes all the evidence points to Rose but think about it, do you honestly think she did it, it's too obvious. She didn't hate the queen she just didn't agree with some of her actions"_

Man, I missed her so much… even in a situation like this she was acting like a true Princess; she had also learnt a few things off me. She was giving them some information but at the same time she was giving them nothing.

"_What about your…__ bond?"_

It was Guardian Smith asking the questions now.

"_I've already told you… it only goes one way I can't feel Rose or make sure she's okay like she can__ with me."_

"_Princess, this is a serious issue – we need you to be honest with us. Do You. Know. Where. Rosemarie. Hathaway Is?"_

"_NO! For the last time no. I don't, and its killing me, don't you think I would have called her by now if I did? I know that your monitoring the phone lines and constantly on the lookout, I would give up anything to have my best friend back here with me but I know it's better for her away from here where she is safe from all of you!  
What kind of savages do you think you are? Putting someone to death! Honestly, sure they did it one hundred years ago but this is the twenty-first century, we don't do that kind of thing. Yes it's a serious crime but really, all of you are just looking for someone to blame, and Rose was just the most convenient option. If you want my honest opinion, I think that you are all hiding behind Rose and letting her take the blame for a crime that everyone in this room __**knows**__ she didn't commit because you're too busy thinking about yourselves and how quickly you can get everything back to the way it used to be. Well you know what; maybe things are better this way. Tatiana Ivashkov was a one of the moroi's greatest rulers and I looked up to her but everyone knows that she tended to cling to the old ways.  
_She was addressing the moroi council now._  
The moroi need to look at themselves and really think about what they're doing, you are all destroying our world! Sending novices out at such a young age, that is a very bad decision. But you know what, you seem to be fine with making damphir's guardians at a younger age but you won't even __**consider **__teaching moroi how to fight or use magic offensively. If you ask me, your all a bunch of hypocrite's who are happy to sit on their royal thrones and watch the world as we know it slowly get destroyed. So, if that's all you need from me, I would like to go now"_

She got up and left, not looking back. I was never more proud to call that girl my best friend than that exact moment. I pulled myself out of her head and was surprised to find tears shining in my eyes. Just as Lissa had left I had seen that everyone had started talking and I swear that some of the guardians were nodding in approval. It was nice to know that people's perspectives were starting to change, about the age law, moroi fighting and, well… me.

I sighed and crawled into the covers of my bed, still wearing my clothes from earlier, too exhausted to change into anything else.

I made a decision. I wasn't going to wait around for fate to step in or take its course with Lissa's sibling anymore; they may be my only chance to set everything – well _most _things right. Starting tomorrow I was going to begin my search and I knew exactly where to start.

I picked up my phone off my bedside table and dialed the number I now knew of by heart. I didn't know what time it would be wherever she was but I knew she would answer.

"Hello… Rose? What are you doing its like 2am here? Is something wrong?"

"Hey… sorry I called so late and yeah, something is wrong… a lot of things are wrong but I might be able to fix a few of them, so I need to ask a _really _big favor…"

**Dun dun duuuun! :) SO, who do you think she called? :)**

**Please Please ****PLEASE**** R&R because it really inspires me to write more! **

**Thanks (: **

**Issie x**


	4. Realisation and Dream

_**Hey guys!  
sorry I haven't Updated in a while, I was on holidays for two weeks so I had no**__** access to internet :( anyway, I'm going to try and get another chapter up to make up for it! :) **_

_**Issie xo**_

**QUICK RECAP.**

I picked up my phone off my bedside table and dialled the number I now knew of by heart. I didn't know what time it would be wherever she was but I knew she would answer.

"Hello… Rose? What are you doing its like 2am here? Is something wrong?"

"Hey… sorry I called so late and yeah, something is wrong… a lot of things are wrong but I might be able to fix a few of them, so I need to ask a _really _big favour…"

"… I need you to get me everything you can on the person who Lissa's dad was giving money to"

"Rose you know I can't do that, stuff like that is top secret."

"Sydney, this is quite literally a matter of life or death, I need you to do this for me. If you don't, well, things will never be the same or normal again! And besides, don't you owe Abe?"

"Okay, okay. No need to guilt trip me… OR bring my debt to Abe into it. And Rose, nothing to do with you is _ever_ normal… anyway, I'll have a look for you, I'm warning you though it could be a while so in the meantime…"

She trailed of obviously unsure of what to say next. There wasn't much that Sydney could do other than get me those files, and she might not have them for a while so I started considering my other options.

I sighed

"Okay fine I'll talk to you later Sid. And _please_ try and get those files for me!"

"I'll try, no promises though"

I heard a dial tone before I could squeeze another word in so I hung up.

I rolled over in bed and tried to sleep, emphasis on the word tried, my mind was going a million miles an hour thinking of possible places the girl or boy might be. The list was endless, how the hell was I going to narrow it down. Let me think about what I already knew;

There is an illegitimate Dragomir child

The guy in Las Vegas said that Eric Dragomir was always- wait… the guy at Vegas that's it! Lissa's dad was putting money into a bank account and I bet that it was to pay child support!

The realization hit me hard in the face; I can't believe that I had the answer right in front of me the whole time!

Finally happy that I had some sort of lead, something to go off. I wasn't going to sit around moping about how things had gone wrong any more. I was done with all of that. With being sad, about being – _wrongfully _might I add- put in jail, about not seeing Lissa, about Dimitri not loving me anymore, of still loving Dimitri regardless of that fact, that stupid, very _significant _fact. Most of all I was done waiting around for all the answers to be given to me. I'd learnt that if you wanted something in this life… you had to take care of it yourself.

I rolled over and pulled the covers up around me, I had a lead and so my mind wasn't whirring around like it had been after I'd talked to Sydney.

I sunk under the covers and slipped into a deep sleep filled with dreams of bright Las Vegas lights and the *ching ching ching* of the slot machines.

My dream then changed to a girl with pale blond hair, she looked like Lissa but there were some slight changes, she had the same jade green eyes that ran in the Dragomir family but her jaw was more pronounced, she had a smaller, button-like nose and she looked about fourteen instead of eighteen like Lissa.

Suddenly my dream changed in a swirl of colors that caused my head to hurt and then I was looking at Dimitri, he was talking to me wait it wasn't me, it was Lissa, I could see her reflection in a mirror opposite. I took in my – or rather Lissa's – surroundings they were in her suite at the royal court.

It was then that I realized that my surroundings had lost the dream-like quality. I was in Lissa's head. I had been asleep and so my defenses were down. Lissa also appeared to be arguing with Dimitri so I guess the passion of the moment had sucked me in.

"You have to tell me where she is Lissa… I _need _to know!" Dimitri was talking and the look in his eyes was frantic and it kind of scared me. I wonder who _she _was; I was suddenly feeling very bitter, Dimitri had obviously moved on already.

"You know that even if I did know Dimitri, I wouldn't tell you. It isn't safe for you _or _her! Don't you think if I knew I would have run away to be at her side by now? To help her? Besides, you going to see her and then pretending like nothing ever happened between you is just going to hurt her more."

Pretending like nothing ever happened? Maybe they were talking about Tasha. My heart shattered at the thought.

"You have no idea what I put her through Lissa, I can't **ever **hurt her like that again"

"Actually I do know, she told me everything. And you know what… she forgave you the second after you did it all. Make up your mind Dimitri, either you want her or you don't, you already know what Rose wants. You're a grown-up, make a decision"

Lissa looked like she was getting up to leave

"You don't understand, it's more complicated than that, I hurt her" Dimitri croaked out.

Lissa was suddenly very angry "It _is _that simple Dimitri, three little words, that's all she wanted to hear. Just like she's been telling you this whole year, she always loved you. Do you think _I'm_ the one who changed you back? No, not really. It was all Rose; you have no idea the things she did for you… the lengths she went! It makes going to Russia look like joining a convent!"

Joy! They weren't talking about Tasha!

Lissa had calmed down a bit now "Tell me why you want to know about her Dimitri, tell me what you should have told her, and I'll see what I can do. Tell me and it's the first step towards telling her"

"Lissa… I, I lo- … I have to know if she's alright…"

Disgusted, Lissa stalked off and just as she left the room I heard Dimitri whisper "Its better this way." He continued saying it, almost as if he was willing himself to believe it…

I jolted awake.

My mind was once again whirring around, so many thoughts.

This was hopeless. Sleep was officially impossible for me. I looked at the digital clock at my bedside table. 2:30 Am. I rolled over and shoved a pillow over my head and soon, my need for sleep overtook the thoughts spinning around in my head and I drifted off, this time into a dreamless slumber.


	5. Travel

**Here's another chapter! :) **

**Thank you**** for the GREAT reviews I have gotten so far guys! They really make my day and inspire me to get more chapters up for you! **

**Anyway… Hope you like it and, as always REVIEW PLEASE! :)**

"Well Laura, I guess this is going to have to be goodbye" I said and smiled at her. I had managed to discretely get a car to make the trip to Las Vegas – a plane wasn't possible, it just wasn't safe for me to be out in the open yet.

"What… why? Are you going away for the weekend?" She seemed really gloomy.

"No, I um… Have to be somewhere…" I felt a bit guilty just leaving her. From what I'd gathered – information about her and so on – she had no, or couldn't remember any of her family members. She was here by herself and I had been a comfort to her. I felt that I'd owed her at least part of the truth. "… well actually I have to find someone"

"Who?" she was suddenly eager for information, a big change from her earlier gloominess. "Do you know where they are, do you know what their name is"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Laura, take a chill pill _seriously. _No, I don't know most of those things and- … why do you care so much anyway?" It suddenly hit me that I really didn't know too much about Laura, I mean we were friends but, I didn't know about her past and she didn't know about mine (of course.)

Then again, she had been a good friend the last few weeks, she had listened to my moaning without complaint when she did not even know what I was complaining about, she had also convinced me not to stay holed up in my hotel room the whole time. No, I couldn't just jump to conclusions for no reason.

Laura seemed to be standing there quite shocked at my words while I thought this all over. I felt bad so I apologized

"Sorry Laura, it's just that you suddenly wanted to know more and, well it might sound stupid but I didn't know if I could trust you." I gave her an apologetic glance but was surprised to see she wasn't focused on me anymore; her eyes had glazed over – like the eyes of Lissa's compulsion recipients, or me when I'm in Lissa's head. She was murmuring something too low for me to hear. She suddenly snapped out of her trance and quickly said to me

"Rose, I need to tell you something"

"What?" She seemed to be fighting some inward battle again and was struggling to get the rest out.

"I…" she faltered "I know a place that can get you a car cheap."

I smiled sadly at her "It's alright, I already have a car"

"Oh, okay."

"Well… Bye" I was never good at the whole goodbye thing so I turned around and started to walk down the street, I wondered if she was alright, I turned around to wave one last time and I couldn't see her. Strange, maybe she had to leave quickly. I kept walking about a minute and then I heard her voice yell out

"ROSE!"

"Laura! What do you want, I know you want me to stay but I have to go now" I said, slightly irritated, but before I could get anything else out she said

"Can I come with you?" the words tumbled out in a rush.

"What?"

"Can I… come with you… who knows might be interesting" she was out of breath from running to catch up with me.

I really didn't have time for this so I just said yes, I wanted to get to Vegas in at least two days, I mean... I did plan to sleep! And I couldn't speed, lest I get a ticket, that's the very last thing I need. "Yeah sure, whatever. Meet me out the front of the service station near your place"

"Yeah I know the one"

I walked off and this time wasn't called back again.

_Early in the Morning the next Day…_

I got up early – around 4am – and packed my few belongings into a grey backpack. I did one last minute check that I had everything. Cash, change of clothes, cell phone, ID, lighter (to burn any Strigoi bodies) and silver stake… yep, all the essentials were there.

I didn't bother checking out of my hotel, I just left the keys at the front desk and went.

I had bought a cheap black 4-wheel drive using some of the money Abe had given me, and I had made sure the windows were tinted so that no passing speed cameras or anything could see my face.

I slowly turned into the service station near Laura's apartment and went to fill up the car. When I got back, she was already sitting in the car, feet on the dash and fiddling with the radio stations.

"Make yourself at home why don't you then" I said to her

"Well, I don't want to listen to any of the freaky music your into"

"How do you know that im into freaky music… we might like the same stuff"

"Trust me Rose, you and freaky go hand in hand down crazy road."

"Sometimes I think you're the one that should be in a psycho hospital Laura"

"Sure, sure Rose…" she smiled at me and I smiled back glad that we had already become comfortable together.

After all, there's nothing worse than a long car trip where you can't cut the tension with a knife because Dimitri wont admit his feelings for you because your both going to be Lissa's guardian and there's an age difference between you… did I really just think that? Man, I am messed up.

I started the car up and we left. We were driving for a while, just listening t the radio, then a song came on that we both knew so we started to sing together. We were dancing in our seats and being total douche bags. That is pretty much how the rest of the trip was too. Just us listening to music and having fun. Laura and I were not best friends, but we were close enough that spending the long amount of time together wasn't that bad. I was glad I had let her come because even though it would have been nice to sit with my thoughts for a bit, I know I would have gone crazy without anyone to talk to and just a big long road in front of me.

It was about 10.30pm, we pulled into the first hotel we saw because it had been a long day, and we were both exhausted. I went inside to see if we could get s room and Laura waited in the car. They had a room but we had to share a double bed, that was fine with me, I didn't really care. I went outside to tell Laura to get what she wanted out of the car and come with me because it was cold but she wasn't there. I went back to the office to see if she had come to get me, she wasn't there either. I was starting to get really worried…

"Laura?... LAURAAAAAAAA!"

I turned a corner and saw her just as the familiar nauseous feeling washed over me… the 'sixth sense' that told me, there was a strigoi nearby.


	6. FIGHT!

I saw (or rather 'sensed') him before he saw me, but my head-start was short lived, he spun around to face me and dropped Laura to the ground in the process.

He came at me with a force that even I did not expect, I had not trained in well over a month, and I had completely forgotten how super fast strigoi could really be. He knocked me to the ground but my guardian training enabled me to get up almost immediately.

I swiftly took my stake out and lunged for him, but he was too fast, he was obviously an older, more experienced strigoi because he anticipated my every move, he also kept his heart well protected and out of the way of my hand. It reminded me painfully of when Dimitri and I fought, but I pushed that thought out of my head and focused on the fight.

I tried to kick him but he grabbed my leg and used it to drag me towards him, twisting my ankle in the process, I gasped from the pain of it.

There was an opening at his heart and though it was difficult because he still had a hold on my leg, I lunged for it, but he realised what I was doing and shifted his body just before I got my target. Instead, I made a deep wound just below his rib cage. He screamed out in agony as the silver burned his skin.

I then noticed that Laura was still on the ground, frozen to the spot as she watched us fighting, she was in a state of shock.

"Go you idiot!" I yelled at Laura, she was a moroi and every fibre of my body was screaming at me that she was in danger… 'They come first' "LAURA!" I screamed, my voice becoming desperate. "LEAVE… **NOW!"** She stood up but made no move to leave.

I was still fighting with the strigoi as I was yelling at her and he took the opportunity to get in a few good hits, I knew they were going to hurt A LOT later, but like a real professional, I pushed through the pain and kept going. I would not focus on it now; I would focus on my instincts,

_Duck, lunge, hit, kick, __**fight… **_

I ran at him and he simply put his leg out, much too fast for me to see, I started to fall to the ground at an angle that I knew would result in a few broken bones. However, before I could hit the ground, he reached out and grabbed me around my throat.

He lifted me up so that the tips of my toes were just touching the ground and I struggled to breathe. He did it for a few more seconds and I started to see stars burst before my eyes, I was feeling dizzy, and as though I would faint, he was trying to suffocate me.

My eyelids started to flutter and they closed for about 3 seconds, he figured I was just about done and tossed me to the ground, thinking that the blow would be the thing that finished me off. It merely fazed me because I was so set on protecting Laura. Instead of seeing what I had hoped to see, – Laura gone and the strigoi looking around for her - I saw him ever so slowly turn towards her.

That _idiot_ was still there, I was going to go OFF when we got out of this… if we got out of this. And the chances of that were looking _incredibly _slim.

I gasped in ragged breaths of air now that my windpipe was no longer being crushed and watched as he slowly walked towards her. Laura was still standing and she looked as though she was trying to scream but nothing was coming out, she was just opening and closing her mouth. She stumbled back a few steps, but she was not watching where she was going and so she tripped over a tree root and fell to the ground. He kept coming towards her and she started to whimper as she frantically tried to scramble away from him from the ground.

I lay on the floor motionless the whole time my whole body screaming at me to save her, to do something… to do anything. However, I could not get my mind to connect to my body and tell myself to get up.

Then I thought of Dimitri. This time I wasn't thinking about us though – of our messed up relationship, I was thinking about the amount of pain the memory of the Zeklos lord he had been assigned to brought him. The lord had not died on his watch but he still blamed himself. I knew that if Laura DID die on my watch, I would never forgive myself and the guilt would be even greater than Dimitri's was. So I forced myself to get up.

My legs were shaky and I nearly fell over as I slowly stumbled towards him.

I made a tiny bit of noise, even though I tried to be quiet but it was irrelevant because the strigoi was lost in his moment of thirst. He was a hunter and Laura was his prey.

Laura looked up at him with eyes that showed that she was more terrified than she had ever been in her entire life.

I picked my stake up off the ground and with a vengeful smile, I summoned the last of my energy I had and charged him, he had no time to react, he was still partially lost to the hunt.

With a loud scream – more of a battle cry - I plunged my stake into his back and he screamed in agony. Because I got him in the back, I wasn't sure if I actually had his heart. I obviously hadn't, he turned around to see me and I could see the extreme agony he was in, but he wasn't going down without a fight. I made up my mind to finally finish this.

I quickly kicked him to the ground onto his back and before he had any time at all to react, I slammed my fist down on the stake so that there was no doubt that it had pierced his heart.

He may have screamed, I don't know, I was too dazed to notice. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion.

Slowly Laura's gaze shifted from his body falling to the ground and she walked over to me on very shaky legs. She half ran half stumbled over and when she reached me after what seemed like an eternity, she burst into tears as she practically tackled me with a hug and buried her head against my shoulder.

I was so weak I thought I was going to faint but I stayed strong. All this would be much worse for Laura, a moroi who had probably never seen a strigoi let alone seen one killed.

I bent down, yanked my stake out of his body, and sighed in relief. I wasn't sure if I had just paralysed him or killed him. It did not matter anymore though because in a second he would definitely be dead.

I then fumbled inside my pocket and got out a lighter and a small bottle of petrol, which was all I would need. I sprinkled the body with petrol, then I lit a scrap of material and threw it onto the body, it lit up in a burst of heat and light that momentarily blinded both Laura and I.

Then the fire disappeared and all that remained of the strigoi was a pile of ashes, a bad memory, and two much shaken girls.

Laura was still crying silently into my shirt and I gasped out the words "they… have… a room." I gave her a shaky smile, _they come first_ I was trying to comfort her_. _Laura did one of those half laugh half sobs and I guided her towards the hotel.

My throat was still incredibly tender from the strigoi's near strangling so I did not attempt any more conversation.

I bent to pick up the room key where I had dropped it when I had seen the strigoi and we slowly made our way to the room which was –thank god – not on the second floor. I don't think either of us could have handled steps right now, especially me. I had a feeling I had sprained my ankle when the strigoi had yanked me towards him.

We stumbled our way into the room and we both collapsed in a heap onto the bed. We were both filthy, me more so because of all the fighting, my clothes were ripped, I had cuts and grazes, and I could see a few _nasty_ bruises coming up already. There was dirt and blood all over Laura and me was all muddy too but we didn't care. We were too tired to care.

The motel was cheap and so the beds were not of the best quality but we could have been sleeping on an ironing board and it would have seemed like a bed of feathers.

Our heads hit the pillows and we both fell asleep at practically the same time. For the first time in a while, I fell into a deep sleep that was not interrupted once by dreams or being pulled into Lissa's head. It would have had to be an incredibly strong emotion she was feeling for me to be pulled into her head because I don't think I would have woken up if an atomic bomb had gone off.

So, status report so far… no leads on anything, one near death strigoi encounter already… and we're only half-way to Vegas.

Great!

My life is just too damn complicated.

**So, what did you think? Please, please review, it means so much! (: **

**I tried to make this chapter a bit more exciting because I was doing a lot of boring fluff, but that was because I was getting to the end of my plot much too fast. So any ideas where you want it to go? I already know the result but if you have any ideas I would love to know them (: **

**Issie! x**


	7. Recovery

_HEY GUYS! _

_Sorry I haven't updated in a while but it's because I only got like __**2**__ reviews for the last chapter and so I wasn't exactly very motivated to do more. So, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE _**REVIEW!**_, it means sooooo much to me!_

_Issie (: x_

I woke up and just lay there, luxuriating in the feel of the hotel sheets around me.

Wait a second…

Hotel?

Everything came flashing back suddenly, I remembered the strigoi fight and then both Laura and I collapsing onto the bed.

Oh my god…

Laura!

I could not hear her heavy breathing next to me and I instantly shot up from the bed. I looked around frantically, my heartbeat rising with every millisecond, until I saw a light peeking from under the closed door of the bathroom. I sighed in relief, she was just taking a shower.

I just sat there collecting my thoughts, my whole body was aching, especially my ankle from where the strigoi had grabbed me. I checked the digital clock next to my bed and saw that it was around 1.30 in the afternoon. Jeez! I must have been tired; I was going to have to floor it if I wanted to make it to Vegas today!

I heard Laura turn off the shower and so I waited at the door to come out. She only took another minute or so but I found myself getting angry that she was not hurrying up. I banged on the door and she came out and gave me a smile, I slipped past her without a word and got in the shower.

I turned up the heat and just stood there for a minute, letting the water smooth out my tense muscles and for a minute, it seemed like my life wasn't so messed up. I wasn't on the run, Mason hadn't died, Dimitri hadn't been turned strigoi and then rejected me and Titania hadn't been murdered. I imagined that I was back at Saint Vladimir's with Lissa. Before everything got complicated, just after we had been brought back from 'vacation.' Back then, my biggest worries were whether I could catch up to everyone or fighting my lust for Dimitri.

I could not help but laugh aloud as I turned off the shower and slowly came back to reality. How much worse can it get if that is my 'simple' and this is my 'complicated?'

I was in a much better mood now and my earlier anger at Laura seemed weird and random. Oh well, I had much bigger things to worry about. I got dressed in the bathroom and came out to see that Laura was waiting for me on the bed; our stuff (or what little stuff we had) was packed and ready to go

"I figured you would want to leave immediately"

"Yeah, thanks." I mumbled, "Are… are you okay? I mean… last night was pretty full on."

"Yeah… I'm a bit shaken but I think I can go on." She smiled at me.

"Cool, because we have a lot of ground to cover and not very much time to do it. I am not going to turn up to some stingy motel in the middle of nowhere again because we didn't make it!" I smiled at her, she turned and headed to the car to get ready, and I went to the office to hand back the room key.

"Thanks." I told the old, balding man sitting at the front desk.

"No problem. Uh, did you hear anything last night. I'm sure it was just a group of teenagers, we think they lit a bonfire because there is a big pile of ashes out the side."

"Oh? Ummm no, I did not hear anything. You most likely imagined it." I said.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

I turned around and left with a mischievous smile on my face. Humans will believe anything to escape from the truth and stay concealed in their perfect worlds. As much as they want to believe in the supernatural, I could walk up to one of them and say 'Hi, I'm a half vampire and this is my best friend Lissa, she's a full vampire!" and they would just laugh and walk off.

We got on the road and there wasn't much talking, neither of us wanted to think too much about last night. I didn't because of my lapse in concentration which caused Laura's capture, and Laura didn't because it was her first strigoi encounter. So we just sat there in comfortable silence, listening to the radio and occasionally singing along to the songs we both knew.

We saw the lights before we saw any buildings. It was definitely true that you could see this place from space. It was truly spectacular! I sucked a sharp, shocked breathe in when we finally got to the city. I had forgotten how big this place was… this could take a while!

PLEASE **REVIEW! ** It will be greatly appreciated. Also, fear not. The exciting bit gets closer with each chapter!


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